In the not so distant future, News Papers will be in direct market competition with TV News on the Internet. They're both posting Web Pages to the net.

Here in Memphis, the local News Paper (Commercial Appeal) is losing miserably to News Channel 5. More people are beginning to get their news from the Internet, so loser News Papers will begin to go away.

The Californian has proven itself to be unworthy as a credible source for news. If one of the local TV News channels steps up with a decent web page, they'll push the CA completely out of business in a few years.

I was recently appalled when I read the Bakersfield Californian newspaper headline in regards to an officer involved shooting.  The headline read "Officers Slay Parolee."  To me the title sounds as if the police committed a crime.  After reading the article I realized several Bakersfield Police Officers returned fire in self defense.  The suspect, a parolee died from the injuries, and the Officer was hospitalized due to his injuries. 

My concern is the way this story was titled.  I have seen it in the past, but this is going overboard.  The media needs to be more responsible when selecting their headlines and be cautious of the words chosen; after all, they are reporting the facts, not their believes.

Law Enforcement is a tough job; and when a differenct picture is painted to the community it is simply not fair nor moral.

I have to agree. The headline appeared slanted. The paper should have placed the emphasis on the fact that a truly great officer was injured in the line of duty and almost payed with his life.  In a way I thought it was like screaming "fire" in a crowded theater. It helped to ignite racial tensions and incite violence and threats. I do feel bad for the family of the man who lost his life. But this was a position he chose to put himself in. The officers had NO choice.  If you are on parole do not possess a handgun. Do not shoot at officers and do not hang out on street corners. Get a job and do what you can to take of the family that you have spent so many years in prison away from.  Cant get a job due to the fact that you are a convicted felon? Let this be a lesson to those younger who are leaning towards a life of crime.  Its hard to bounce back from.

How about Parolee choose 3rd strike and paroled early., saving taxpayers thousands!

The Bakersfield Californian -  February 13

Headline:      The moon turned blue last night  after Jenner admitted TBC was wrong about something.    Alas! the phenomea only lasted a few seconds.

SubHeadline:   There were reports from farmers in outlaying areas that hundreds of swine began flying over pen enclosures.  Rumors are, it's due to Jenner's admission that TBC made a mistake.   Film at 10.

I thought it was kinda cool to hear that from him...a mistake was made and fessed up to...notta-problem.....the problem is that there are individuals out there that would rather die than go back to prison--and could care less whom they take with them...thats the problem

shame on the Californian, as well as other news outlets here in Kern County, for attempting to humanize a scumbag parolee felon gang member.

some things stick in my mind more than others....

..."he was a father of 3 kids."  really...then what the hell was he doing out on a street corner where known gangmember congregate.  if he was a father, not a sperm donor, shouldnt he have been at home with them (maybe i am presuming too muchto assume that they lived with him.....maybe even presuming WAAAAY too much to assume they are from the same mother????

......"he was turning his life around..."  really???   so going to jail 4 times in the last 10 years...the most recent stint ending late 2007 is attempting to "turn" ones life around?  i suppose congregating with known felons and gang members could be considered "turning" ones life around???  Did this clown...now in his 40's, even have a job?   any iota of evidence to back up the statements made by our local media??

i wish more like him would suffer the same fate.  at least it would save taxpayers money from future incarcerations, correctional officers salaries, future single moms being pregnant and going on social services because the "father" doesnt even have a job, less graffitti to clean up...overall less of a plight to the community

GOOD JOB BAKERSFIELD POLICE DEPARTMENT!!!!!!!

If there is one thing about the English language, it is one of the most descriptive due to it's mulitlingual influences. Those that write for a living should understand the subtle and not so subtle variances between verbs and adjectives. The word "large" portrays a different image than the word "enormous", just as "slay" conveys an image somewhere between "kills" and "murders".

Having said that, the newspaper puts out an enormous (okay maybe just a large LOL) amount of info, so sometimes bad wording slips past busy folks. It was a bad headline, and one that certainly helped bolster the anti-BPD image that some people have of the Californian. I think Mr. Jenner understands that, and I commend him for his apology. Readers will certainly keep writers and editors on their toes, and that is the hallmark of any free society. It is good to see readers taking the writer to a deserved trip to the woodshed, that will mostly likely lead to more thought out future headlines.

I continue to read that this police officer is in stable condition and that for some odd reason, he has not  be able to speak to the media.  I can answer that question.  He is now being coached about the whole situation that occured on that dark Febuary night.  I was also reading in the paper that it said the officer was shot in the chest while wearing a bullet proof vest and in the leg.  The spokesman for the Bakersfield Police Department continues to say that the officer has had to have several surgeries.  Why?  The bullet proof vest protected his chest, so you are telling me that he has been in and out of the operating room for a leg wound.  Do you know how many other people have been shot in the leg and have been out of the hospital and back at home by now.  I know why he is still in the hospital.  To protect himself from speaking out and saying  the wrong thing.  While in the hospital he is in a controlled enviroment.  This so-called gang member was shot by 3 police officers.  Why?  Why was he shot after being tazed and why was he shot in the face.  That means he was shot while laying down and on the ground.  Who is to blame?  I want to know the measures that police offficers are to take in such a situation.  Do you remember the Bruce Sons case, he was finally released due to evidence that the officer shot first.  Isn't that a clear view, that it can happen again.  Bruce Sons sat in jail for over 5 years because he chose to defend himself from a sworn peace officer.  Look at the people who are around you, and ask this question.  Are police officers Human Beings?  If the answer is yes, then that means they will lie, cheat, deceive, too.  I feel sorry for the other officers, because when it all comes to light, one or more officers will start to point the finger when the heat rises.....The officers who know the truth probably can not even sleep at night, knowing that one or more of his fellow officers, may have committed murder.  Something like that on your mind all day everyday will drive you crazy.  Even if this man was a gang member, think about the father that you took away from his children, the brother you took away from his sisters and a son that you took away from his parents......

bubbalala, you sure are smart....

Yes it is unfortunate the Bakersfield Californian missed the mark again by thinking this person was an innocent bystander in this incident.  The fact of the matter still stands the thing that was shot and killed went against what our community and our country stands for by doing the ultimate sin that could be done, attempting to take the life of a person for doing their job.  Throughout this opinion I will referring to the dead person as the "Thing" because that thing does not deserve the courtesy of being called anything other than the thing.  It is unfortunate that the gangster community in this city believes that this is such an atrocity, however, due to the ignorance of that community they actually believe that "THING" was a good person.  Yeah that person might have been good to those few people within his close family, however, he brought terror and hate within our community.  How dare those family members believe they have the right to bring forward the good in the thing that decided to try to kill a law enforcement officer.  I appreciate the people in the newspaper saying the thing was changing his life within the last week of his life, however, what was he doing with the rest of his 30+ years of being a thing within our community.  How long do we need to forgive and how long do we need to give a person a chance.  For the love of god this person was 30+ years old.  I was taught it was not good to hurt someone at the age of 5 years old and I was able to learn that lesson without having to go to prison.  I thought the prison system was supposed to rehabilitate people and teach them the wrongdoings of their life.  However, I would imagine the family in this situation would say he has been set up his whole life and the cops pretty much had him on their radar since he was born.  The police pulled the thing's name out of hat and decided to all of a sudden out of the blue "pick" on  the thing.  The police went after the thing because his number was up and and all law enforcement in Kern County because his name was brought up that day the thing was killed.  Come on people if it weren't for the local terrorists called gangsters this city would be in good shape.  One day our community and government will get a backbone to take back the streets and our city and exterminate all gangsters and that lifestyle the gangsters decide to live.

Unfortunately through the media and far left organizations such as the ACLU the people that kill others within our communty are turned into local celebrities.  If the media stopped broadcasting the people who murder, attempt to murder, rape, or pillage our society those subjects would stop trying to do the hateful things within the community. 

I for one am glad we do not have to pay for the THING to be put into our prison system.  The police did their job in taking care of the problem.  I pay my taxes and I am glad to see my taxes are paying for the job to get done and the criminals trying to hurt our local law enforcement officers to make a better life for our community.  I finaly got my money's worth for the taxes that I pay.  This act saved me roughly $32,000 a year in tax money going towards people in prison that we pay a year for a single inmate. 

I think I am going to bring a lawsuit against the family for the amount of time it took me to read the articles in the paper about this outstanding thing and the time it took me to write this opinion.  It would be only fair because my time could have been spent educating myself on the local laws in order to ensure I do not commit a crime which in most cases is common sense. 

Lastly, I appreciate the Californian for submitting an ubiased article heading in regards to officers slain parolee.  Try the article of, "A police officer looses his livelihood, officer's family goes through the horror of their family member being shot by a street thug with a gun that preyed on the innocent lives of the citizens of Bakersfield."    I don't think I need to tell this community how true gangsters should be dealt with.  If you don't like the law enforcement in this community then leave. 

Cheese goes well with that......

Panfilio, quit bothering us and go clean up the trash in your back yard. I have a friend who works for the railroad and he told me the other day when they rolled past your back yard how junky it looks. I told him you picked up trash for many years working for CalTrans, and you don't want to pick up trash anymore. And I asked him if he noticed how all the other houses in your neighborhood looked?

As much as we love to deny it, we are locked in a two tier system on one side those who believe they are God and or gods’ disciples, while on the other side of the blue line they believe Satan or his disciples are in charge, and of course, they are both right.

The right side as they call themselves is a coalition of clergy, government agencies and business who believe that they have replace slavery with a benevolent form of occupation. Just the opposite is the thought on the other side of the blue line divide where they feel that the coalition of the right is not for their benefit but for their torment as their civil rights are routinely violated in the name of righteousness and civility.

Whatever the truth is, the righteous side does have a distinct advantage, as they are free to spy, harass, insult and belittle those on the other side of the coalition at will and with the tacit approval of the forces that be. The opposite side of the blue line on the other hand takes s criticism of it benevolent occupation as a crime, and an affront to all their world believes in at the moment.

These two side do not even respect each other after death, the righteous side stalks the others funerals, while at the same time they object to anyone questioning what has become lavish funerals of state on their side, but I guess both are correct depending on your perspective and what side of the divide your occupy.

But my guess is progress will be slow, the old blue line will continue to make the struggle personal by insulting and belittling the opposite side of the blue line as non-human debris, and their opposite will continue to defend themselves in whatever means is available to them to avoid the pitfalls of the benevolent occupation of their territory.

Oh well, life as it should be, occupation of others territory has become so acceptable that it matters not whether the occupation is local or international, it is all good.

Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called children of God

Matthew 5:9

God Bless Officer Eddy and his family.

Lets just remember something.....

I see some people talking about how this gang member was brutally "slain". Police officers are highly trained induviduals. Does it not occur to you that mabe this gang member did something illicit or illegal to warrant this force? Now that he is dead another degenerate is removed from society, who given the chance, would have killed that cop. What about his family?

and blue wonderful, I know you have some king of chip on your shoulder against the people who are defending your life. Go to Kern valley State Prison sometime. Why dont you look at those. Think of all the innocent people they have hurt and all of the taxpayer money they expend to exist. In truth all they are is non human debris, who represent all that is bad in society. I know this sounds cruel and heartless, but bluewonder you must learn to think with you head and not your heart. I respect however you look at it with some intullectual honesty, but you must see that as both sides come closer together we must preserve what once was. Remember the road to hell is paved with good intentions......